Rhizidium phycophilum, a new species in Chytridiales.

Molecular and ultrastructural investigations are revealing unrealized diversity among chytrids as the taxonomic revision of order Chytridiales (Chytridiomycota) progresses. During a biodiversity survey of soil-inhabiting chytrids in Australia an undescribed chytrid was isolated from a soil sample collected in a cool temperate rainforest of New South Wales, Australia. Combined zoospore ultrastructure analysis and molecular phylogenetic analyses of partial LSU rRNA and ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 sequences demonstrated this chytrid was a new species within Chytridiales and possessed distinctive zoospore architecture previously unknown. Herein we delineate a new Rhizidium species in Chytridiales based on molecular monophyly and unique subcellular organization of the zoospore.